An Amazon Best of the Month SelectionA Publishers Weekly Summer Reads 2020 Editors’ Pick “Smart and witty . . . the perfect historical read.” —Julia Quinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author“Vanessa Riley at her finest.” —Sarah MacLean, New York Times bestselling author“I was delighted. Readers on the lookout for Black or disabled characters in historical romance will not want to miss this.” —… the lookout for Black or disabled characters in historical romance will not want to miss this.”
—New York Times Book Review
A ground-breaking, empowering, and sexy story from acclaimed author Vanessa Riley that fans of Beverly Jenkins, Evie Dunmore, and Alyssa Cole won’t be able to put down. Join these Rogues & Remarkable Women as they fight for their status, their families…and true love.
When headstrong West Indian heiress Patience Jordan questioned her English husband’s mysterious suicide, she lost everything: her newborn son, Lionel, her fortune—and her freedom. Falsely imprisoned, she risks her life to be near her child—until The Widow’s Grace gets her hired as her own son’s nanny. But working for his unsuspecting new guardian, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, has perils of its own. Especially when Patience discovers his military strictness belies an ex-rake of unswerving honor—and unexpected passion . . .
A wounded military hero, Busick is determined to resolve his dead cousin’s dangerous financial dealings for Lionel’s sake. But his investigation is a minor skirmish compared to dealing with the forthright, courageous, and alluring Patience. Somehow, she’s breaking his rules, and sweeping past his defenses. Soon, between formidable enemies and obstacles, they form a fragile trust—but will it be enough to save the future they long to dare together?
“One of the best historicals I’ve read in years.”
—Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author
“Expertly crafted romance.”
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
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A refreshing, original take on a regency tale. I love the strength Patience emits and the backbone to stand up for and fight for her child. Busick steps in to rescue his late cousin’s son, having no idea the nanny that comes attached will upend his life. He is methodical and controlling and no match for Patience. Their late night chats are endearing and you can’t help but cheer for them to find common ground. Together, they must overcome the enemy and forge a trust of each other. Both are strong characters, so the give and take is comical at times. I was very pleasantly surprised by this story and already looking forward to the next installment to learn more about some of the other characters.
Review originally published at Romancing Romances
I received an eARC at no cost from the publisher, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.
This was my first book by Vanessa Riley and I was super excited to read this book, as it is a diverse historical romance, and I’ll admit right away: most authors I read are not diverse and/or do not write diverse stories/characters. However, I’m trying to improve myself and this was my first eARC of a historical romance that featured more diversity.
The heroine, Patience, is from an island in Demerara (currently Guyana, South America), and the hero, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington is a war-hero from England.
I really, really, really wanted to like this book. But I found it tasking to finish it, and it just didn’t really work for me.
First of all, the book is written in the 1st person AND in the 3rd person, which makes it confusing, and honestly, it started to give me headaches with its changing the whole time.
Patience, although I can understand her struggle, and her reasons, was just a bit annoying sometimes, and in the end I just didn’t like her.
Busick was okay, not a great hero either. He’s an amputee, a war hero, a very strict, very protective, very organized man. My favourite part about him was the love he had for his ward, Lionel – Patience’s baby.
For me… we don’t actually see a romance develop between the main characters, we are simply told they started to fall in love, and there is no chemistry between them.
The mystery in the whole book just was too much, and yet left questions unanswered at the end.
I liked and respect that the author explored difficult themes (such as war wounds, mental health, the injustices in England during the 19th, particularly regarding women, and even more regarding POC, amongst other) but for me it wasn’t enough to make me enjoy the book, sadly. I did enjoy the female friendships, and the best part for me was Lionel (the baby), and moments he was with his family.
3.5 stars
Enjoyable historical romance. The first book in the series centered around The Widow’s Grace, a secret society that helps I’ll-treated widows. Patience Jordon has lost everything, her husband, fortune, baby, due to the dastardly Markham. Busick Strathmore has arrived to take over as guardian to his cousin’s baby (also Patience’s). Patience, with the help of the Widow’s Grace, infiltrates the Duke’s house to care for the baby. Overall, an enjoyable book, but it could have been improved with a prologue. If the prologue started when Patience was rescued from Bedlam by the Widow’s Grace and we were introduced to what the society’s goals were, I think that might have helped improve the flow of the narrative.
I’ve been a fan of Vanessa Riley’s for awhile but she’s dazzled me with her new release. It’s so original–no one else is writing anything like this–and I couldn’t put the book down. Fans of historical romance must read!
West Indian heiress Patience Jordan had been swept off her feet by British Viscount Colin Jordan, who brought her to England, planted her in his estate Hamlin Hall, and then abandoned her there. Pregnant with there child and fed up with her husband, she wrote him a scathing letter about how unhappy she was. Shortly afterwards, she is informed by Colin’s uncle Markham, that Colin had committed suicide. locks her in her room with her newborn son Lionel for a month and then has her committed to Bedlam. She and another inmate are rescued by Lady Shrewsbury who established Widow’s Grace, a small organization that rescues widows. And that is just the back story, before the action begins. Whew!
Patience is forced to sneak into her own home to nurse her son and try to grab the trust documents written by her father, but to Lionel’s rescue comes Colin’s cousin, injured war hero, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, Lionel’s real guardian, who has been looking for his ward, chasing falso leads left by Markham. While Patience wants to reveal her identity, Lady Shrewsbury counsels patience, and convinces Busick to hire her as a wet nurse and nanny for Lionel. Patience isn’t the only one with secrets. Colin had been keeping many from his bride and Repington has some of his own. Can they overcome their suspicions, trust enough to be honest and keep Lionel safe from Marchton’s machinations?
Interesting historical backdrop of the rights of women and other races during the Regency era, how injured veterans were cared for when they returned and other social issues. The characters are fascinating and skillfully developed and the plot intriguing. I breezed through this book one hot afternoon and look forward to reading the next one.
I won a print ARC from Kensington. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.
Ok, Patience is SUCH an amazing woman, a fierce mother and determined to get to the heart of what has been going on. The Duke is in pain and frustrated and is a soldier who is used to everyone obeying him – and certainly will not stand for deceptions! Watching them bond over their love of Lionel and work to find their way to happiness was so much fun. I can’t wait to read the next installment of this series!!
I’ve only read one other book by Vanessa Riley, so I was really excited to read A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby.
It was a fun, easy to read historical romance. There is so much historical detail woven in and really reflects the time period like you are living in it as you read. There is first and third person POV in this novel which took a minute to get used, but it added so much urgency and passion to the story.
The main characters are great. I loved Patience and all the complexity she is living with. I love her baby Lionel and the family relationships that pop up all over the story. The Duke, Busick is a fun character and I was really rooting for him! I also LOVED that we finally get to read about a regency heroine who isn’t white! More please!!!
What really excited me about this book is the secondary characters and the Widow’s Grace. A group of Widows that help each other through connections, the law, spying, disguises and you name it! So I’m very excited to find out what happens to Jemina’s story in the next book!!! I also loved Gantry.
Historical fiction readers will love this book, romance readers will also enjoy! Closed door sexy times in this book.
I received the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Clean Regency Romance and Adventure
This is not a bodice ripper. This is a clean Regency period adventure with a romance tossed in. The story has a really bad guy, a decent good guy, and a mother who will do anything to protect her infant son. It is a very good story that I could not put down. I wish that there had been more detail in some parts, but it did a good job of covering a lot of activity in a short period of time. I will be watching for more of this author’s books and more of this series. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
This is my first time reading any of Vanessa Riley’s books and I must say that I will be reading more of her work. This was an awesome read about a Duke, A Lady And A Baby.
Widowed West Indian heiress Patience Jordan’s husband commits suicide and his cousin is all to happen to lock up Patience and take away her son Lionel.
Patience is embarking on a way to get her son back putting herself in danger while she poses as a nanny using disguises in order to get to her son back and locate documents about herself being mentally able to care for her son.
With the help of “The Widow’s Grace an organization that helps widows Patience is able get things accomplished.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
It took awhile to get into the rhythm of this book but pretty soon I was engaged with the the characters of Patience and Repington and the merry chase of hidden identities and raising a baby and a mystery to be solved. The romance seems rushed but its the diverse characters and even story line that is the charm of this book and makes it worthwhile reading.
What happens when you become a Widow and have an infant son, your deceased husband death is by suicide and his relatives has you locked away in a mental hospital so no one knows where you are? This is what happens to Patience Jordan because if she is not found and considered dead, then the guardian for Patience son will receive the inheritance that Patience’s father set up for her getting married.
This is an interesting storyline which takes place during historical events, there is mystery, suspense, drama, interracial marriage and romance. The characters were well developed and you can feel the emotions of of the characters especially Patience love for her baby and willing to do whatever it takes to reclaim her home and baby. The Duke you can feel his pain and frustration of learning how to live with his leg amputated and how his love for being the guardian of the baby.
In the author’s notes I like how she explained the different terms of races, places, events and inventions
during that time period.
I look forward to reading the next book to see some of the characters Jemina, the countess who runs the Widow’ Grace backstories.
Cassandra H.
I received a ARC from Netgalley and this review is of my own honest opinion and review.
#KessingtonPublishing #ADukeTheLadyAndABaby ##VanessaRiley
A heroine you can cheer for and a duke that’s met his match. Vanessa Riley tells stories with wit and grace.
Patience Jordan was widowed and committed to an asylum by her deceased husband’s unscrupulous relative. Finally free, she teams up with other widowed women to claim what she was forced to leave behind in the manor house–her baby. Unfortunately (or fortunately…?), another relative of her husband, “the Duke,” has taken over the manor, seeing to it that the baby will be his ward. Disguised as a wet maid, Patience works her way into the manor, and perhaps the Duke’s heart…
Historical romances are not my favorite genre. The gender dynamics of another time always leave me feeling slightly uncomfortable, like being trapped in inescapable power play that you can’t argue against because it was appropriate for the time. However, after reading and enjoying Evie Dunmore’s Bringing Down the Duke, I’ve been attempting to expand my reading horizons and appreciate historical romances for what they are. This novel by Vanessa Riley caught my eye for it’s cover that popped and high praise.
While the gender dynamics still leave something to be desired, I understand them as a necessary evil in historical romances, and Vanessa Riley creates a unique and original story about a woman attempting to regain what’s rightfully hers. And it’s amazing that we’re not talking about property, or money, or a title, but a baby! A living, breathing baby! Almost baffling. But Riley makes this premise come to life in a believable manner, with fantastic world-creating, character building, and prose that sing. This book is all show not tell, maybe to such an extreme level I felt like I had no idea what was happening in the first chapter. But upon catching on, I appreciated the way each character’s past and motivations were slowly revealed and helped explain why they were the way they were. I can’t say this is a particularly “fun” read, as it’s quite a heavy premise and it seems like danger is around the corner at every page, but it was certainly enjoyable, well-written, and full of rich details that transported me to another time and place. More like a cozy blanket and a cup of cocoa read than a beach read, but there’s a time and place for everything. And who doesn’t love hot chocolate?
Thank you to Net Galley and Zebra Books for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was an entertaining, quick romance that tackled several serious subjects: the inequal, often harsh treatment of women, including putting them in asylums to be rid of them, the prejudice against people of color and the difficulties of soldiers returning with war wounds. Women were portrayed as strong and many of the men were good guys who didn’t think women should be kept down as they were.
I was looking for a sweet romance (after all, there is a baby) with some tough issues underneath, but I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I had hoped. Patience is indeed forthright but often reckless rather than courageous and while she may have been naturally beautiful she did not seem alluring. Busick comes off a bit better. He was gravely injured in the war and is trying to do the right thing all around – raise the baby that is now his ward, take care of the men injured with him, and bring his land back to financial stability. Patience and Busick seem to be drawn to each other but it’s hard to see why; except for their shared devotion to the baby there is really not much chemistry between them.
The story is a little hard to follow. Patience’s story is in the first person, Busick’s in the third and the phrasing is somewhat formal and cumbersome. The story touches on all the hard subjects but it would have been nice if there was more depth. The “romance” along but with the lack of chemistry and suspense it’s hard to care very much about these folks.
Thanks to Kensington Publishing for providing an advance copy of A Duke, the Lady and a Baby for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
This was an unusual and intriguing historical romance. Here are some of the things that caught my attention:
– POV : alternating, first person for heroine, third person for hero
– tone ; seemed almost Gothic at times, light-hearted at other times
– dialogue: seemed almost blunt at times, not usual in a Regency, but perhaps because of heroine’s origins
– description: not a lot of description of setting, etc.
All of this does NOT mean that I disliked the book. It was just different. Patience Gordon was an admirable heroine — tough with a great spirit. Busick Strathmore was blustery, but inherently loving, and very likeable. I loved how their relationship built. The plot included intrigue and secrets that slowly were revealed. I really liked the secondary characters and how to see more of them in the coming installments of this new series. Overall, I really enjoyed the story.
A Duke, The Lady, and A Baby, by Vanessa Riley is a sweet romantic love story between two people who care very deeply for one single little person. The start off of this book was a little hard for me to understand who played what part in the book. The wording stumped me in some areas. This made it hard me to understand the scenes in the book. I understood that Patience sole purpose in the beginning was to provide her milk for her son Lionel.
When Patience meets up with Buswick, I was confused in what was happening in that scene. It was clear that Patience help Buswick up the steps. My question was why. The book kept referring to the stick stumping on the steps. I didn’t know the leg was amputated until Patience, Buswick and the other ladies were the bedroom the next day.
As I continued reading the story, it started to unfold with some understanding. I like the storyline and plot for the book. The details are explained well enough for the reader to visualize the scenes from the book. The intimacy between Buswick and Patience you can feel from the characters when they come together to talk.
The love that Buswick has his ward as he calls Lionel is genuine, you can see that from how the scenes are written when these two are together. I think if the book is written more an a simple term from flamboyant words and formal terminology. This book would be an easy read for me. As I said before, the story unfolds as you read further into the book. The storyline and plot is great for the characters.
All in all this is a sweet romantic love story. I voluntary reviewed this ARC after receiving a free gifted copy.
3.5 stars
I received an ARC of this book from Zebra publishing via NetGalley. What follows is my fair and honest review.
I really wanted to love this historical romance from Vanessa Riley, but I thought the writing left something to be desired. However, since I was reading an advanced copy, I’m giving the book the benefit of the doubt and hoping that some of the issues I see in the novel were resolved in final edits.
My primary issue with this novel is that I don’t think there’s enough regular prose for the amount of dialogue in the book. That is, the book is written with a lot of dialogue, but not much contextualizing information. This was especially disorienting at the beginning of the book, when characters were talking to one another, but we, as readers, hadn’t really been introduced to them yet. It’s hard to keep track of who’s who when you don’t know who anyone is. I also struggled with the shifting 1st and 3rd POV. The heroine’s chapters/sections are written in 1st person, but the hero’s sections are written in 3rd, and I’m not sure I understand the reasoning for writing this novel this way.
As much as I struggled with the writing, I think A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby succeeds in other ways. I liked Patience as a character, and I think her perspective as a Black woman from the West Indies adds something unique to the historical romance genre. The emphasis on Busick’s struggles with his war injuries also adds some disability representation, and it’s nice to see an author consider how the impacts of war are not just scars or emotional wounds, which you tend to see more of in historical romance. I also loved the idea of the Widow’s Grace secret society, but I wish we got to see more of how the society worked beyond the help of one older widow.
I recommend A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby to historical fiction fans, especially those looking for a Victorian/Regency historical with a unique perspective.
Series: Rogues and remarkable Women #1
Publication Date: 6/30/20
/Number of Pages: 320
*** 3.5 Stars rounded up ***
This was my first book by this author and it was a very enjoyable read. The storyline was unique for the Regency period and it was well presented. One unusual thing in the story’s presentation was that it alternated between first and third person which may bother some readers, but not others. While this wasn’t an unusually long book, I felt as if it took me a long time to read it – even though it didn’t. I’m not sure why that was – just me I guess. The story moved along at a good clip and it was well-plotted, but I did think the villain was a bit of a fizzle. While there was both a romance and a villain, I did feel that they were subservient to the story the author wanted to tell – which was the treatment and lack of acceptance of people of color during the Regency period.
Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, was severely wounded and lost a limb at the battle of Badajoz. He was Wellington’s right-hand-man and dearly wants to get back to the battlefield. I did come to like Busick, but it didn’t come easily. I think that was mostly because he seemed to be a cardboard caricature of a dedicated military man. I loved his determination to care for and protect his new ward, Lionel Jordan, who is the son of his much-loved cousin, Colin.
Patience Jordan was a lovely character and I admired her courage and loving heart. I liked her as soon as she graced the page. Just after the death of her mother, she fell madly in love with Colin Jordan. Almost as soon as they married, they left her West Indies home, Demerara, and traveled to Colin’s home in England. Patience did all she could do to please Colin – she adopted English ways, she perfected her speech, but Colin always left her at home in the country while he lived mostly in London. He explained that he was doing it to protect her because as a Mulatto (or Blackamoor – I was never sure which) she would be ridiculed and not accepted.
When Colin committed suicide, his uncle, Markham, swooped in and took over. He put Patience in Bedlam and took over custody of Lionel. The story is about Patience doing whatever she had to do to gain custody of her son and to escape England. You’ll love how selfless, brave, and loving she is.
There wasn’t much time spent telling us exactly what The Widow’s Grace society is nor how it came to be. We are to just accept that it exists and that they found and rescued these two ladies from Bedlam. I really wish that there was more focus on who Patience was as a person rather than what she was. I understand that the author wanted to focus on the story as a person of color, but that isn’t all she was. I wanted to get to know and like her for who she was, and there was some of that – just not enough to suit me.
We got to meet the featured characters of the next book and I liked both of them. They are both mixed-race as well and are struggling to find acceptance within London society. Since I liked both characters in this book, I’ll give the next one a read as well.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington and a military man to boot, has an amazing sense of humor. Wounded in the Peninsular War he doesn’t let it get him down. As the guardian of his cousin’s son, his focus is totally on him. When the baby’s mother, his cousin’s widow, finally reveals herself he’s infatuated. Her protective instincts make her a fierce mother. Together they will work as a team to protect the baby from the man who plans to kidnap him. It’s all about the money. Between the two of them and some extra help, Busick plans to succeed. A little difficult to distinguish the individual’s dialogue from a character’s thoughts, but I have to say Busick is now one of my favorite heros.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.